One Day in November
by Paradox Predator
Summary: Doctor, meet the Doctor. Susan Foreman is hugged by a random stranger. Who is he? Why is he there? And just why do those eyes seem so familiar..? Written in honor of The Day of the Doctor. Happy Doctor Who's Day!


"_I used to be old, but now I feel young,_

'_Cause I was a boy when I learned how to run_

_I could never be settled in one time or place!"_

~_Teenage Rebel, _by Chameleon Circuit.

…

Susan had been having a good day before she had been jumped.

No, really. She had been having a good day. They were back on Earth for a shore leave and Ian and Barbara had wandered off to go food shopping. Susan could see why. One could only subsist on small, food-flavored nutrient bars for so long before it got boring, and the two humans had been bored.

Susan, however, was not bored. With Barbara and Ian gone, she and her Grandfather had decided to take a walk down Totter's Lane. There was an antique shop nearby that Susan had wanted to take a look at for some time now.

Going into the antique shop was fine. Nothing bad happened. Nothing happened while they were inside, either. In fact, Susan's Grandfather was able to buy her a very nice glass sculpture for her room back on the TARDIS. The trouble came as they left the shop.

"Susan!" a voice yelled, and then something large and purple filled her field of vision as she was given a very _enthusiastic _hug. The sculpture went flying out of her arms and she heard it smash on the pavement somewhere to her left. "Oh, wow! I haven't seen you in so long!" the irritating voice continued. "Did you miss me, eh?"

"See, here, young man!" Susan's Grandfather, the Doctor said, rapping the interloper sharply on the head with his cane. "Just what on Earth do you think you're doing? Hm? Can't you see you've broken my granddaughter's present? And who are you, anyway?"

The man stepped back. He was young, but dressed in an odd, almost Victorian style that belied his looks. He was wearing a purple coat, which until a moment ago had been all that Susan could see of him, and a grey vest. He had a watch on his left wrist, as well as a fob watch on a chain, and wore a gold bow-tie.

His face, however, was much the oddest part of him. He had a high forehead and a large chin and nose that stuck out like a pair of nutcrackers. His eyes were bright and his hair swooped forward in front.

"Sorry!" the strange Stranger exclaimed. "I just haven't seen ol' Susy here in so long! My whole brain just went 'what the hell'!" He spun around on one heel until he was facing Susan again. "How's it going, eh?"

Susan did not look amused. "Who are you?" she asked. "Why did you attack me?"

The Stranger sighed. Darn. Now he would have to explain who he was. "Aw, come on!" he exclaimed. "Don't you recognize your old Grand-dad?"

The Doctor gasped. "Young man, do you mean to say that you are a future version of myself?" It seemed unbelievable. And yet…there was something familiar about the ridiculous man standing before them.

The future Doctor grinned widely. "Yep!" he said, happily. "I'm the eleventh to be exact. You're gonna be around for a _long _time yet, young un!"

The Doctor sputtered in outrage at being called young.

Susan looked shocked. She stepped forward and stroked the future Doctor's cheek. "Grandfather?" she asked. This strange person bore no resemblance to the grumpy old man beside her. "Is it really you?"

"In the flesh, Arkytior," he answered, using Susan's old Academy nickname. Very few people in the universe knew that name. Her Grandfather was one of them. She raised her head and looked into the man's eyes. They were so old.

"It is you!" she burst out, hugging the new Doctor. "Well, regeneration's certainly been kind to you, hasn't it? What are you on, now?"

"Eleventh," the future Doctor said. "I'm on my eleventh, and so much has happened! There was this one time- Ah, never mind that. Spoilers, you know."

Susan stepped back as a thought occurred to her. "If you're my Grandfather, then where am I?" she asked, looking around. The future Doctor sighed and looked down at the ground.

"Don't worry," he said. "You're going to be very happy. You leave for love, and I check in on you every now and then. You'll be fine."

Susan was still shocked. "I'm going to leave?" she gasped. "But how could I leave Grandfather? How could I leave the adventure to get married to some stuffy Time Lo-"

"Nothing like that!" The Doctor gasped, aghast at the very idea. "First off, I said love, not marriage. Well, you two do get married, but it wasn't arranged or anything. Also, he's decidedly not a Time Lord." Susan opened her mouth to say something and the Doctor held up a finger. "Stop talking. No spoilers. Hush."

"Doctor!" a voice called down the alleyway. "The TARDIS readouts say that there'll be a paradox if you stay any longer!"

"I'll just be a second, Clara!" the Doctor yelled back over his shoulder. "She's my new companion!" he said gleefully, rubbing his hands together. "She's a genius, really. I'm just breaking her in!" he jokingly added. Then he pointed to the younger Doctor. "Pick up the pieces of that statuette!" he ordered.

"And why should I do that?" the annoyed Chronarch asked. In answer, the Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled the sculpture out.

"To repair it, of course," he said, handing it to Susan. "Keep it away from itself," he added. "The Blinovitch Limitation Effect can be a Drashig!"

"And what would this…Drashig…be, hm?" asked the younger Doctor.

"Oh, they're nasty!" explained the future Doctor. "They're like snakes. With teeth." He bared his own teeth as he said this.

Susan giggled a little bit (how undignified for a Time Lady) at the antics of her older Grandfather (going a bit senile?). "Don't all snakes have teeth?" she asked.

"Actually, no!" the Doctor exclaimed! "The Rag-Carpet snakes of Tenten X have absolutely no teeth and are still venomous. I should probably check on that, actually…" he looked thoughtful as he said this.

Another cry of "Doctor!" echoed down the narrow street.

"Just a second, Clara!" the Doctor called again. Turning back to Susan, he clapped her on the shoulder. "Brave-heart Susan. Don't ever give up. You're going to be magnificent!" Then he turned to his younger self.

"How will I do?" the young Doctor asked. "Will the universe even remember an old Time Lord in a broken TT Capsule?"

"Oh, Theta," said the Doctor. "Theta Sigma. The Doctor. The man who makes people better. Everyone will remember you. You're going to go so far. You're going to fight Daleks and Zygons and Cybermen and Slitheen. Never forget, though," he continued. "Never forget that it all started out as a silly old thing in a junkyard and two kidnapped school-teachers. Because, at the end of the day, doesn't every beautiful thing start as junk?"

He clapped his hands together. "Well, see you 'round!" he called as he began walking down the street. "All my love to long ago!"

"To days to come!" saluted the younger Doctor.

"And adventures to be had," added Susan.

As the rising and falling sound of a TARDIS engine sounded throughout the street, Ian and Barbara came back.

"What was that?" Ian asked. "You're still here, and I thought your ship was one of a kind!"

"One of a kind?" the Doctor replied. "Of course it is!"

"Well, then what was that?" Barbara questioned. "It sounded just like the TARDIS' engines, but the TARDIS is right over there!"

"That, my dear," said the Doctor "was the sound of a bright and shining future to come! Yes, a very bright future indeed."

...

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not belong to me. However, I did recently acquire a replica of the fourth Doctor's sonic.**


End file.
